Card picker and motor control mechanism



Jan. 4, 1966 w. LEATHERS 3,227,442

CARD PICKER AND MOTOR CONTROL MECHANISM Filed March 24, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

WARD LEATHERS BY W. LEATHERS CARD PIGKER AND MOTOR CONTROL MECHANISM Filed March 24, 1964 Jan. 4, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 5

FIG. 8

lNVEN TOR.

WARD LEATHERS United States Patent 3,227,442 CARI) PICKER AND MUTOR CGNTROL MEGHANISM Ward Leathers, Massapequa Park, N.Y., assignor to Education Methods Council, Inc., Sea Cliff, N.Y. Filed Mar. 24, 1964', Ser. No. 354,394 6 Claims. (Cl. 27144) The improved card picker and motor control mechanism comprising the present invention has been designed for use primarily in connection with accounting machines of the type shown and described in my United States Patent No. 3,176,414, granted on April 6, 1965; and entitled Test Scoring and Recording Machine. The machine disclosed in such patent is essentially a record controlled apparatus by means of which a series of students test cards which have been perforated in various card columns to represent the answersto a series of multiplechoice questions may becompared with a teachers answer or matrix card and various functions such as a totalization of the number of correct answers, indication of which answers are the correct ones, and other functions printed or otherwise marked on the cards. Functionally, the machine includes a hopper in which the students cards are stacked, a picker mechanism for withdrawing the cards from the bottom of the stack, one at a time, and feeding the same to. the first of a series of card-conveying rolls which conduct the cards successively through a card sensing station, and a rotary card-carrying drum which repeatedly conveys the matrix card through a second sen-sing station in timed relation to passage of the students cards through the first sensing station.

The control mechanism of the present invention, although applicable to the card feeding arrangement associated with the machine of my copending application, above referred-to, is not limited to such use and, if desired, the mechanism may, with or without suitable modification as required, be employed in connection with a wide variety ofcard' handling machines such as tabulating machines, sorting machines and the like. Irrespective however of the particular use to which the invention may be put, the essential features thefeof are at all times preserved.

It is among the principal objects of the invention to provide a novel control. mechanism for accounting machines which employ reciprocating picker mechanisms for withdrawing cards one at avtime from a stack of cards contained in a hopper, the mechanism being operable by a simple manual operation, well within the skill of the average juvenile student, to accomplish a plurality of functions associated with the operation of the machine. Specifically, these functions are four-fold, namely to apply a proper and uniform degree of pressure to the card stack for hold-down purposes and to maintain this pressure throughout any given run of cards down. to and including the last card in the stack; to simultaneously disable the picker mechanism and relieve the hold-down pressure on the card stack; to deenergize the electric motor which operates the picker mechanism and simultaneously disable a the picker mechanism so that any possible coasting of the the student or other operator exteriorly of the machine casing.

3,227,442 Patented Jan. 4, 1966 It is another and important object of the invention to provide such a control system wherein the mechanical instrumentalities associated therewith are of extremely sim- .ple construction and consume but little space within the enclosure offered by the machine casing.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a picker control mechanism embodying a pressure element which constitutes an inherent and functional part of the machine and which therefore is not subject to being misplaced or lost as is the case with conventional pressure weights and the like ordinarily employed in connection with conventional card hoppers.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a control mechanism which is capable of incorporation with an accounting machine as original equipment or which, if desired, may readily be applied to existing machines without requiring extensive modification or alteration thereof.

The provision of a control mechanism for accomplishing the functions briefly outlined above and whichis comprised of a mini-mum number of parts, particularly moving parts, and which therefore is unlikely to get out of order; one which is rugged and. durable and which therefore will withstand rough usage; one which requires no adjustment for its continued service; and one which, otherwise, is welladapted to perform the servicesrequired of it, are further desirable features which have been borne in mind. in the production and development of the present invention.

Other objects and advantages of the invention, not at this time enumerated, will readily suggestthemselves as the following description ensues.

In the accompanying two sheets of drawings forming a part of this specification, one illustrative embodiment of the invention has been shown.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of an accounting machine employing the picker control mechanism of the present invention, the machine casing in the vicinity of the card feed hopper beingbroken away with the hopper and other portions of the machine being shown in section to more clearly reveal the nature of the invention;

FIG. 2 is, a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along the line 2. 2 of FIG. 1;

FIG, 3 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 34-3, of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken substantially along theline 44 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a, sectional view taken substantially along the line 55 of FIG. 2.;

FIG. 6. is a sectional view similar to FIG. 3 showing the parts in a different position;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 4 showing the partsin a different position;

FIG. 8 is a sectional. view similar to FIG. 5 showing the parts in a different position;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 7 showing the card hopper substantially depleted of cards; and

FIG. 10 is a circuit diagram of the electric motor employed in connection with the invention.

Referring now to the drawings in detail and in particular to FIG. 1, the improved card picker and motor control mechanism comprising the present invention has been illustrated herein for exemplary purposes as being operatively applied to an accounting machine in the form of a test scoring and recording apparatus. of the type shown and described in my United States Patent No. 3,176,414, above referred to. Many of the details of the apparatus bear no relation to the present invention and, as a consequence, they have not been illustrated nor described.

The apparatus has been designated in, its entirety at 10 and it involves in its general organization a casing 12 Within which substantially all of the operative machine parts are enclosed. The disclosure of FIG. 1 is somewhat schematic in its representation and, briefly, the casing 12 serves to support in the upper regions thereof a card hopper 14 having a forwardly and downwardly inclined bottom wall 16 adapted to support thereon a stack of students cards 18 (FIG. 4) and from which stack the cards are adapted to be successively withdrawn by means of a picker mechanism 20 the nature of which will be made clear presently. The cards 18 withdrawn from the stack are delivered to a pair of feed rolls 22 which conducts them to a first sensing station S where perforations in the cards are sensed by means of a series of sensing brushes 24, after which additional feed rolls (not shown) carry them to a region of discharge where they are collected in a suitable receptacle 26.

Simultaneously with the passage of cards 18 through the sensing station S, perforations in a matrix card 28 which is wrapped around the periphery of a rotary drum 30 are repeatedly sensed at a second sensing station S2 by means of a series of sensing brushes 32, the drum being rotated in timed relation to the passage of cards 18 through the sensing station S. Various machine functions are dependent upon the simultaneous sensing of perforations in thecards 18 and 28, or the lack of such sensing, at the two sensing stations S and S2. These functions bear no relation to the present invention and consequently they will not be described herein, suffice it to say that they include the printing or marking of totalization and correct answer information on the cards 18 for the benefit of the students who have perforated the cards 18 in accordance with their responses to a series of multiplechoice questions previously submitted to them. For a full understanding of the type of information which is carried upon the cards 18 and upon the card 28, of the treatment or operation which is performed upon the cards 18, and of the mechanical and electrical instrumentalities by means of which such operation is made possible, reference may be had to the above mentioned United States Patent No. 3,176,414.

Still referring to FIG. 1, the card hopper 14, in addition to the inclined bottom wall 16, further includes a pair of opposed side walls 34 and 36, an upper end wall 38 (see also FIG. 2), a lower end wall 40, and a partial top wall 42, the various walls establishing a generally rectangular box-like structure. This structure is enclosed within an outer wall structure 44 which establishes a pocket-like enclosure 46 above the upper end wall 38, and side enclosures 48 and 50 outwardly of the hopper side walls 34 and 36 respectively.

The lower end wall 40, in combination with the adjacent portion of the bottom wall 16, establishes a narrow card discharge gate opening 52 which is in register with the feed rolls 22 so that cards withdrawn from the bottom of the stack will pass through the gate opening directly to the feed rolls. As best seen in FIGS. 1 and 4, a reciprocable card picker element 54 underlies the upper end region of the bottom wall 16 and is held thereagainst by means of a leaf spring 56. The picker element 54 is in the form of a flat plate having a pair of raised parallel elongated ribs formed thereon, the ribs projecting into respective slots 62 formed in the bottom wall 16. Normally, during card picking operations, the ribs 60 project completely through the slots 62 and extend into the hopper enclosure a distance slightly less than the thickness of a card 18 so that upon reciprocation of the picker element 54 the lowermost card in the stack will repeatedly be withdrawn from the stack and forced downwardly through the gate opening 52 and into operative engagement with the feed rolls 22. A leaf spring 64 (FIG. 1) has one end thereof secured to the partial top wall 42 and bears at its other end against the stack of cards 18 to align the leading edge of the lowermost card with the gate opening 52.

The picker element 54 is adapted to be reciprocated under the influence of a train of linkage mechanism actuated by a rotary cam 70 disposed on a shaft 72 which extends horizontally across the machine casing 12. The linkage train includes a rocker arm 74, the proximate end of which is pivoted on a horizontal shaft 76 and the distal end of which is pivoted to a link 78. The rocker arm 74 carries a cam follower roller 80 medially of its ends. The link 78 is connected to a bell crank lever 82 which, in turn, is connected to the picker element 54 by means of a link 84.

The shaft 72, and consequently the cam 70, is adapted to be driven from the motor shaft 86 of an electric motor M by means of a belt and pulley arrangement including driving and driven pulleys 88 and 90 respectively, and a connecting belt 92. The motor shaft 86 is also operatively connected to the card-carrying drum 30 by a driving connection schematically illustrated at 94.

The arrangement of parts thus far described is purely conventional insofar as the driving linkage for the picker mechanism is concerned and no claim is made herein to any novelty associated with the same, the invention of the present application consisting rather in the novel picker disabling means and motor deenergizing means which will now be described in detail.

As best seen in FIG. 2, a control shaft has its opposite ends rotatably journalled in the outer wall structure 44 and extends transversely of the hopper 14 through the enclosure 46. A control knob 102 on one end of the shaft 100 exteriorly of the outer wall structure 44 facilitates turning of the shaft between two terminal positions which the shaft is capable of assuming upon turning of the shaft a quarter turn in either direction. A detent cam 184 carried on the shaft 188 in vertical register with the side enclosure 50 cooperates with a spring 106 anchored as at 108 within the enclosure and maintains the shaft in either of the two positions by means of detent notches 119 and 112 respectively (FIGS. 3 and 6).

At the opposite end of the shaft 100 and in vertical register with the side enclosure 48 a crank arm 114 (FIGS. 5 and 8) is connected through an actuating link 116 to the trip arm 118 of a two-position control switch 120 (see also FIGS. 1 and 10) for the electric motor M. When the detent notch is in register with the spring 106, the control switch maintains the electric circuit for the motor M closed, whereas, when the detent notch 112 is in register with the spring, the switch 120 opens the electric circuit.

Referring now to FIGS. 1, 2, 4, and 7, the medical region of the control shaft 100 is supported by and rotatable in a pair of webs 122 (FIG. 2) which extend across the enclosure 46 between the upper end wall 100 and the outer wall structure 44 and, between these webs 122 the shaft 100 carries a pressure-applying spring in the form of a relatively wide strip of thin spring stock. In its free state, the spring 130, in the main, assumes a substantially semi-cylindrical configuration and has its proximate end region to the shaft 100 as indicated at 132. The extreme proximate end 133 of the spring 130 is turned radially outwardly of the shaft and constitutes, in effect, a disabling cam by means of which the picker element 54 may be maintained in operative as will be described presently.

When the shaft 100 is in such position that the detent notch 112 is in register with the spring 106, the pressureapplying spring 130 assumes the position wherein it is illustrated in FIG. 4 and wherein the distal edge 134 thereof is raised from contact with the stack of cards 18 in the hopper. When the shaft 100 is in such position that the detent notch 110 is in register with the spring 106, the distal edge 134 rests upon the uppermost card in the stack and compresses the stack against the bottom wall 16 of the card hopper 14. The spring 130 is sufficiently thin and the quality of spring steel stock employed is such that it possesses a substantially constant degree of resist- .distal edge 134 of the spring 130 may be rolled as shown in FIG. 4 to facilitate sliding contact thereofwith the uppermostcard in the stack as the latter becomes diminished, The positions which the spring 130 assumes under conditions of large and small card quantities in the stack have been illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 7 respectively.

When the shaft 100 is in such position that the detent notch 112 is in register with the spring 106, the laterally turned portion 133 of the spring 130 bears against the picker element '54 and forces the same downwardly against-the action of the spring 55 so that the ribs-60 are disposed below the level of the upper face of the bottom wall 38 and are thus incapable of operative engagement with the lowermost card in the stack during reciprocation of the picker element. In this position of the shaft 100, the rolled edge 134 of the spring 130 is raised from the stack, while the control switch 120 for the electric motor M is in its open condition and current supply to the motor is discontinued.

Referring now to FIG. 10 wherein the circuit diagram for the electric motor has been shown, the full line position of the crank arm 114 corresponds to the position wherein it is shown in FIG. 5 and in this position the control switch 120 maintains the circuit for the motor M open. At this time it may be necessary to shift the position of the card-carrying drum 30 (FIG. 1) for the purpose of removing a matrix card from the drum and subsituting a different matrix card in its place. Accordingly, a push button switch 140 is disposed in shunt relationship with respect to the electric motor M so that upon closure of the. switch 140 a circuit will extend from the source S, through lead 11, motor M, leads 13, 15, switch 140, and leads 1'7, 19 back to the source. The consequent energization of the motor will, of course, cause actuation of the picker mechanism 20. However, inasmuch as the radially turned end 133 of the spring 130 maintains the picker element 54 depressed so that it is incapable of engaging the lowermost card in the stack as previously described, reciprocation of the picker element will be without function, Engagement of the radially turned end 133 with the picker element also prevents operation of the latter in the event that there is any tendency for the motor M to coast after the shaft 100 has been turned to the position which it assumes when the detent notch 112 is in register with the spring 106.

With the detent notch 110 in register with the spring 106, the shaft 100 assumes the position in which it is shown in FIGS. 6, 7 and 8. Inthis position, the rolled edge 134 of the spring 130 rests upon the uppermost card in the stack, the radially turned end 133 of the spring 130 is withdrawn from the picker element 54, and the trip arm 118 of the switch 120 assumes the dotted line position of FIG. 10. Inasmuch as the radially turned end 133 of the spring 130 is out of the path of movement of the picker element 54, and inasmuch as the position of the trip arm 118 is such that the electric circuit for the motor M is closed, the picker element is free to reciprocate in its normal and operative path'of move ment and withdraw cards 18 one at a time from the bottom of the stack for ejection through the opening 52. The circuit for the motor M under such conditions extends fr-om the source S, through lead 11, motor M, leads 13, 21, switch 120, and leads 23, 19 back to the source.

From the above description it is believed that the nature and advantages of the present card picker and motor control mechanism of the present invention will readily be understood. Simplicity of construction and ease of operation involving merely a quarter-turn of the shaft 100 in either direction for multiple machine functions are the principal features of the invention.

The invention is not to be limited to the exact arrangement of parts shown in the accompanying drawings or described in this specification as various changes in the details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention. Therefore, only insofar as the invention has particularly been pointed out in the accompanying claims is the same to be limited.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an accounting machine of the character described, in combinaton, a card hopper having a bottom wall upon which the lowermost card in a stack of cards is adapted to be supported, an end wall defining a card-ejection gate opening adjacent the bottom wall, a reciprocable picker element disposed beneath said bottom wall and having a picker tooth thereon repeatedly engageable with the trailing edge of the lowermost card in the stack upon reciprocation of the picker element, means for reciprocating said picker'element, said picker element being movable between an operativeelevated position wherein, during reciprocation thereof, said picker tooth repeatedly engages the trailing edge of the lowermost card in the stack and initiates ejection of the card through said gate opening, and an inoperative depressed position wherein, during reciprocation thereof, said picker tooth is disposed below the effective plane of said bottom wall and is out of register with said lower card in the stack, spring means yieldingly urging said picker element to its operative elevated position, a rock shaft mounted on said hopper for limited angular turning movement between first and second positions, detent means for maintaining said rock shaft in each of said positions, an abutment on said shaft engageable with said picker element when the shaft is in its first position for depressing the picker element and maintaining the same in its inoperative position, a pressure member carried by said shaft and engage-able with the stack of cards when the shaft is in its second position for compressing the stack against said bottom wall, said abutment being movable out of engagement with the picker element when the shaft is in its second position and said pressure member being movable out of engagement with the stack when the shaft is in its first position, and a manually operable control knob for actuating said shaft.

2. In an accounting machine, the combinaton set forth in claim 1, wherein said pressure member is in the form of a thin flexible leaf spring having its proximate end secured to said shaft and having its distal end engageable with said stack of cards.

3. In an accounting machine, the combination set forth in claim 1, wherein said pressure member is in the form of -a thin narrow strip of flexible spring stock of arcuate longitudinal cross section, having its proximate end secured to said shaft and having its distal end engageable with said stack of cards.

4. In an accounting machine, the combination set forth in claim 1, wherein said pressure member is in the form of a thin flexible leaf spring having its proximate end secured to said shaft and having its distal end engageable with said stack of cards, and wherein said abutment on the shaft comprises a radially turned extension on the proximate end of said spring.

5. In an accounting machine, the combination set forth in claim 1 and including, additionally, a guide slot in the hopper bottom wall within which said picker tooth is slidable in either position of the picker element.

6. In an accounting machine of the character described, in combination, a card hopper having a bottom wall upon which the lowermost card in a stack of cards is adapted to be supported, an end wall defining a cardejection gate opening adjacent the bottom wall, a reciprocable picker element disposed beneath said bottom wall and having a picker tooth thereon repeatedly engageable with the trailing edge of the lowermost card in the stack upon reciprocation of the picker element, means including an electric motor for reciprocating said picker element, an electric circuit for said motor, a control switch for said circuit and including a trip lever movable between switch-opening and switch-closing positions, said picker element being movable between an operative elevated position wherein, during reciprocation thereof, said picker tooth repeatedly engages the trailing edge of the lowermost card in the stack and initiates ejection of the card through said gate opening, and an inoperative depressed position wherein, during reciprocation thereof, said picker tooth is disposed below the effective plane of said bottom wall and is out of register with the lower card in the stack, spring means yieldingly urging said picker element to its operative elevated position, a rock shaft mounted on said hopper for limited angular turning movement between first and second positions, detent ments for maintaining said rock shaft in each of said positions, an abutment on said shaft engageable with said picker element when the shaft is in its first position for depressing the picker element and maintaining the same in its inoperative position, a pressure element carried by said shaft and normally maintained out of contact with said stack when said shaft is in its first position, a crank arm on said shaft and operatively connected to said trip lever for actuating the same, said crank arm maintaining the trip arm in its switch-opening position when the shaft is in its first position, said abutment being engageable with the picker element, said pressure element being engageable with the stack for compressing the same against said bottom Wall, and said trip arm assuming its switch-closing position when said shaft is in its second position, and a manually operable control knob for actuating said shaft.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,632,644 3/1953 Wockenfuss 27144 2,938,722 5/1960 Luning 271-44 3,010,716 11/l96l Hirst 27144 FOREIGN PATENTS 771,119 3/1957 Great Britain.

M. HENSON WOOD, JR., Primary Examiner. 

1. IN AN ACCOUNTING MACHINE OF THE CHARACTER DESCRIBED, IN COMBINATION, A CARD HOPPER HAVING A BOTTOM WALL UPON WHICH THE LOWERMOST CARD IN A STACK OF CARDS IS ADAPTED TO BE SUPPORTED, AN END WALL DEFINING A CARD-EJECTION GATE OPENING ADJACENT THE BOTTOM WALL, A RECIPROCABLE PICKER ELEMENT DISPOSED BENEATH SAID BOTTOM WALL AND HAVING A PICKER TOOTH THEREON REPEATEDLY ENGEAGEABLE WITH THE TRAILING EDGE OF THE LOWERMOST CARD IN THE STACK UPON RECIPROCATION OF THE PICKER ELEMENT, MEANS FOR RECIPROCATING SAID PICKER ELEMENT, SAID PICKER ELEMENT BEING MOVABLE BETWEEN AN OPERATIVE ELEVATED POSITION WHEREIN, DURING RECIPROCATION THEREOF, SAID PICKER TOOTH REPEATEDLY ENGAGES THE TRAILING EDGE OF THE LOWERMOST CARD IN THE STACK AND INITIATES EJECTION OF THE CARD THROUGH SAID GATE OPENING, AND AN INOPERATIVE DEPRESSED POSITION WHEREIN, DURING RECIPROCATION THEREOF, SAID PICKER TOOTH IS DISPOSED BELOW THE EFFECTIVE PLANE OF SAID BOTTOM WALL AND IS OUT OF REGISTER WITH SAID LOWER CARD IN THE STACK, SPRING MEANS YIELDINGLY URGING SAID PICKER ELEMENT TO ITS OPERATIVE ELEVATED POSITION, A ROCK SHAFT MOUNTED ON SAID HOPPER FOR LIMITED ANGULAR TURNING MOVEMENT BETWEEN FIRST AND SECOND POSITIONS, DETENT MEANS FOR MAINTAINING SAID ROCK SHAFT IN EACH OF SAID POSITIONS, AN ABUTMENT ON SAID SHAFT ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID PICKER ELEMENT WHEN THE SHAFT IS IN ITS FIRST POSITION FOR DEPRESSING THE PICKER ELEMENT AND MAINTAING THE SAME IN ITS INOPERATIVE POSITION, A PRESSURE MEMBER CARRIED BY SAID SHAFT AND ENGAGEABLE WITH THE STACK OF CARDS WHEN THE SHAFT IS IN ITS SECOND POSITION FOR COMPRESSING THE STACK AGAINST SAID BOTTOM WALL, SAID ABUTMENT BEING MOVABLE OUT OF ENGAGEMENT WITH THE PICKER ELEMENT WHEN THE SHAFT IS IN ITS SECOND POSITION AND SAID PRESSURE MEMBER BEING MOVABLE OUT OF ENGAGEMENT WITH THE STACK WHEN THE SHAFT IS IN ITS FIRST POSITION, AND A MANUALLY OPERABLE CONTROL KNOB FOR ACTUATING SAID SHAFT. 